BERLIN, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing financial and organizational woes of German low-cost air carrier AirBerlin are increasingly reflected in falling passenger numbers, figures released by the company on Friday showed.
The flight company's passenger numbers fell to a total of 2.4 million in July, a 24-percent drop compared to the same month last year despite the period's traditionally high volume of holiday bookings.
AirBerlin counted 13.79 million passengers between January and July which marked an annual fall of 16 percent.
The downward trend is partially explained by the company's reduction of its fleet and network of routes. However, the occupancy rate for seats on flights has also fallen from 83.6 percent to 82.4 percent during the first seven months of 2017. In all but two months since the start of the year, AirBerlin planes flew at a lower capacity than in 2016.
AirBerlin has not been profitable for years and recorded a loss of 780 million euros (918 million U.S. dollars) in 2016. The situation has worsened since a change to the summer schedule in March led to a sharp increase in cancellations and delays.
AirBerlin is to publish its earnings for the first two quarters of 2017 on Aug. 18.
